Looking at the World Through Rose-Coloured Lenses

By no means should we ignore what is, at times, a harsh reality. However, the goal of the website Positive News is not to ignore real world problems, but to look at them with a constructive perspective. In an email from editor Lucy Purdy, she wrote, "We don't offer a positive 'gloss' on things, and don't publish what is usually known as 'happy' or 'good news', but rather explore social challenges through a solution-focused lens. This involves reporting on what's being done about them as well as the problems themselves". 

Positive News is a refreshing approach to typical news sources that only break sad stories with no evident 'light at the end of the tunnel'. Purdy also explained, "We call this constructive journalism, and it's an approach rooted in research, for example that in positive psychology. We also run a training arm called the Constructive Journalism Project". On the project's site, constructive journalism is defined as: "Rigorous, compelling reporting that empowers audiences to respond constructively, presenting a fuller picture of truth while upholding journalism's core functions and ethics".  And positive psychology, according to the Penn Arts & Sciences Positive Psychology Center, "...asserts that human goodness and excellence is just as authentic as distress and disorder, that life entails more than the undoing of problems".

Take a minute to browse Positive News, and perhaps share a hopeful news story with a friend. Below are a few articles that students will enjoy:

Homeless-led tours give alternative view of London

New school rules? Swotting up on 'positive education'

How helping others could be the key to fighting addiction

And, a couple fresh perspectives on the outcome of the election:

How the US election result could trigger a society of empathy

6 women who made history in the US election